Why carotid pulse

Healthy Lifestyle Fitness. Products and services. Checking pulse over the carotid artery To check your pulse over your carotid artery, place your index and middle fingers on your neck to the side of your windpipe.

Thank you for Subscribing Our Housecall e-newsletter will keep you up-to-date on the latest health information. Please try again. Something went wrong on our side, please try again. It is due to a forceful heartbeat. The carotid arteries take oxygenated blood from the heart to the brain.

The pulse from the carotids may be felt on either side of thefront of the neck just below the angle of the jaw. This rhythmic beat is caused by varying volumes of blood being pushed out of the heart toward the extremities. Call your health care provider if the intensity or rate of your pulse increases suddenly and does not go away.

This is very important when:. Your provider will do a physical exam that includes checking your temperature, pulse, rate of breathing, and blood pressure. Your heart and circulation will also be checked. The history and physical examination: an evidence-based approach. Recommendations for improving and standardizing vascular research on arterial stiffness: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association.

Hypertension ; 66 : — Expert consensus document on arterial stiffness: methodological issues and clinical applications. Eur Heart J ; 27 : — Arnold Hodder : London , Noninvasive assessment of local pulse pressure: importance of brachial-to-radial pressure amplification.

Hypertension ; 46 : — Calibration of non-invasively recorded upper limb pressure waves. Hypertension ; 46 : e15 — e Guidelines on guidelines: focus on isolated systolic hypertension in youth. J Hypertens ; 61 : — Brachial artery tonometry and the Popeye phenomenon: explanation of anomalies in generating central from upper limb pressure waveform. J Hypertens ; 30 : — Am J Hypertens , in press. Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford.

It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Sign In or Create an Account. Sign In. Advanced Search. Search Menu. Article Navigation. Close mobile search navigation Article Navigation. Volume Carotid Artery Tonometry: Pros and Cons. Oxford Academic.

To measure the pulse on the neck, place the index and middle fingers just to the side of the Adam's apple, in the soft, hollow area. Press gently until you locate the pulse. Note: Sit or lie down before taking the neck pulse. The neck arteries in some people are sensitive to pressure. Fainting or slowing of the heartbeat can result. Also, do not take the pulses on both sides of the neck at the same time.

Doing so can slow the flow of blood to the head and lead to fainting. Once you find the pulse, count the beats for 1 full minute. Or, count the beats for 30 seconds and multiply by 2. This will give the beats per minute. To determine the resting heart rate, you must have been resting for at least 10 minutes. Take the exercise heart rate while you are exercising. Measuring the pulse gives important information about your health.

Any change from your normal heart rate can indicate a health problem. Fast pulse may signal an infection or dehydration. In emergency situations, the pulse rate can help determine if the person's heart is pumping. Pulse measurement has other uses as well.